Dale Chihuly is from Seattle, and as a result, his works are seen fairly often around the Pacific Northwest. To first time viewers, Chihuly’s works are striking and eye-catching… to those who have seen many of his pieces, however, the lack of diversity becomes a little stifling.

I’m in the boat as one who has seen quite a bit of Chihuly’s work, and I was subsequently a bit hesitant to discover his newest exhibit was in town at the deYoung gallery. I simply expected an extension of work that I have seen much too much of already. Not to mention the additional $5 price tag and the line you had to wait in in order to actually see the exhibit…

To my pleasant surprise, however, due to creative installation trickery and fancy lighting, the exhibit was amazing (and yes, well worth the $5). Chihuly’s glassworks made a showing, of course, but his sketches and drawings did as well. Personally I found them to be less eye-catching, but I’m sure someone enjoyed their relatively abstract and rough natures.

Neon glass pieces greet us upon our entering.

Chihuly’s “Persians” series. The work was great, but the descriptions were painful at best. To loosely sum it up, the description of these pieces touched upon how the pieces seemed foreign and unique and therefore reminded him of foreign lands… and to him, foreign lands meant things like Asia, like Persia… and as a result, these were called “Persians.” Uhhh, no. No.

A chorus of angels sings.

Exploring the relationship between cold and still, hot and flowing (like magma).

“Reeds” series. By this point I was no longer reading the inspirations, so I couldn’t tell you that part.

Two boats carrying a million glass pieces, floating on a sea of black.

“Chandeliers” series.

More from the “Chandeliers” series.

Nothing much here — just a ceiling of glass. What was really cool about this all-white room were the rainbows cast on the walls from the array of glasswork.

An assortment of odd freaks and fancies.

And more. The end.

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Vivian Hua (華婷婷) wears a lot of random hats, but has somewhat mastered globetrotting like a hobo and evading traditional 9-to-5 work schedules. She enjoys observing human idiosyncrasies perhaps more than anything and is a magnet for homeless people (a joy) and bug bites of all types (absolutely terrible). Through her work, she hopes to embrace the temporary while documenting the nostalgic, using divination and dream symbolism as guides through the cosmic maze. Additional writing, art, video, and other crap, like her astrological chart, can be seen at www.inallthings-patterns.net. She is the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE magazine, and quite appreciates unsolicited personal e-mails just to shoot the shit and narrow the gaps between human beings.